Pope leo xiii biography summary examples

Pope leo xiii biography summary examples: Pope Leo XIII was

Vincenzo would receive his doctorates in theology, civil law and Canon Law in His first mass was celebrated alongside Giuseppe. Some time later, the pope appointed Vincenzo Legate of Benevento, a papal province comprising some 20, people. During his tenure as legate, Vincenzo saw to the arrests of corrupt aristocrats to restore order. As reward for his efforts, Vincenzo was relocated to larger provinces like Spoleto and Perugia.

April 27th of that year would see the pope promote him to Archbishop. He encouraged the Bishops and the laity in their struggle for Catholic schools, yet he was able to win the good will of the Court, not only of the pious Queen Louise, but also of King Leopold I, strongly Liberal in his views. The new nuncio succeeded in uniting the Catholics, and to him is owing the idea of a Belgian college in Rome He made a journey through Rhenish Prussia CologneMainzTrierand owing to his vigilance the schismatic agitation of the priest Ronge, on the occasion of the exposition of the Holy Coat of Trier indid not affect Belgium.

Meanwhile the See of Perugia became vacant, and Gregory XVImoved by the wishes of the Perugians and the needs of that city and district, appointed Msgr. Pecci Bishop of Perugiaretaining however the title of archbishop. With a very flattering autograph letter from King Leopold, Msgr. Pecci left Brussels to spend a month in London and another in Paris.

This brought him in touch with both courts, and afforded him opportunities for meeting many eminent men, among others Wiseman, afterwards cardinal. Rich in experience and in new ideas, and with greatly broadened views he returned to Rome on May 26,where he found the pope on his deathbed, so that he was unable to report to him. He made his solemn entry into Perugia July 26,where he remained for thirty-two years.

Gregory XVI had intended to make him a. Pius IX desired to have him near his person, and repeatedly offered him a suburbicarian see, but Msgr. Pecci preferred Perugiaand perhaps was not in accord with Cardinal Antonelli. As Bishop of Perugia he sought chiefly to inculcate piety and knowledge of the truths of Faith. He insisted that his catechize not only the young but the grown up; and for this purpose he wished one hour in the afternoon set apart on Sundays and feast days, thus forestalling one of the regulations laid down by Pius X in for the whole Church.

He brought out a new edition of the diocesan catechismand for his clergy he wrote a practical guide for the exercise of the ministry He provided frequently for retreats and missions. After the Piedmontese occupation and the Suppression of the religious orders the number of priests was greatly diminished; to remedy this lack of ecclesiastical ministers, he established an association of diocesan missionaries ready to go wherever sent He sought to create a learned and virtuous clergy, and for this purpose spent much care on the material, moral, and scientific equipment of his seminary, which he called the apple of his eye.

Between and he enlarged its buildings at considerable personal sacrifice, secured excellent professors, resided at examinations, and himself gave occasional instruction. He introduced the study of the philosophy and theology of St. In also he introduced the government standards for studies of the secondary schools and colleges. When the funds of the seminary were converted into state bonds, its revenues were seriously affected and this entailed new sacrifices on the bishop.

With the exception of a few troublesome priests who relied on the protection of the new government, the discipline of the clergy was excellent. For the assistance of many priests impoverished by the confiscation of church funds, he instituted in the Society of S. Gioacchino, and for charitable works generally, conferences of St. Vincent de Paul.

He remodeled popes leo xiii biography summary examples educational institutions for the young and began others, for the care of which he invited from Belgium nuns of the Sacred Heart and Brothers of Mercy. During his episcopate thirty-six new churches were built in the diocese. His charity and foresight worked marvels during the famine ofconsequent on the earthquake which laid waste a large part of Umbria.

Throughout the political troubles of the period, he was a strong supporter of the temporal power of the Holy Seebut he was careful to avoid anything that might give the new government pretext for further annoyances.

Pope leo xiii biography summary examples: Pope Leo XIII was head

Shortly after his arrival in Perugia there occurred a popular commotion which his personal intervention succeeded in appeasing. Inwhen bands of Garibaldians expelled from Rome were infesting the Umbrian hills, the Austrians under Prince Liechtenstein hastened to occupy Perugiabut Msgr. Pecci, realizing that this foreign occupation would only increase the irritation of the inhabitants, set out for the Austrian camp and succeeded in saving the town from occupation.

In a few outlaws set up in Perugia a provisional government; when the cardinal heard that, few as they were, they were preparing to resist the pontifical troops advancing under Colonel Schmidt he wrote a generous letter to try and dissuade them from their mad purpose and to avoid a useless shedding of blood. In February,he wrote a pastoral letter on the necessity of the temporal power of the Holy See ; but on September 14 of that year Perugia and Umbria were annexed to Piedmont.

But withal he was so cautious and prudent, in spite of his outspokenness, that he was never in serious difficulties with the civil power. Only once was he brought before the courts, and then he was acquitted. Pope Pius died February 7,and during his closing years the Liberal press had often insinuated that the Italian Government should take a hand in the conclave and occupy the Vatican.

However the Russo-Turkish War and the sudden death of Victor Emmanuel II January 9, distracted the attention of the Government, the conclave proceeded as usual, and after the three scrutinies Cardinal Pecci was elected by forty-four votes out of sixty-one. Shortly before this he had written an inspiring pastoral to his flock on the Church and civilization.

Leo's move also failed to prevent the Concordant's eventual repealment, as it was later abrogated by the French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State. In the light of a climate hostile to the Catholic Church, Leo continued the policies of Pius IX towards Italy without major modifications. In his first consistory inhe elevated his older brother, Giuseppeto the cardinalate.

He had to defend the freedom of the church against what Catholics considered Italian persecution and discrimination in the pope leo xiii biography summary examples of education, expropriation and violation of Catholic Churches, legal measures against the church and acts of terrorism such as anticlerical groups attempting to throw the corpse of Pope Pius IX into the Tiber on 13 July The following year, on 12 Mayhe raised to the rank of cardinal the convert theologian John Henry Newman[ 44 ] who would eventually be beatified by Pope Benedict XVI in and canonized by Pope Francis in In British Indiatoo, Leo established a Catholic hierarchy in and regulated some longstanding conflicts with the Portuguese authorities.

A papal rescript 20 April condemned the Irish Plan of Campaign and all clerical involvement in it as well as boycotting, followed in June by the papal encyclical "Saepe Nos" [ 45 ] that was addressed to all the Irish bishops. Of outstanding significance, not least for the English-speaking world, was Leo's encyclical Apostolicae curae on the invalidity of the Anglican orders, published in Inhe declared Bede the Venerable a Doctor of the Church.

This had implications beyond the purely religious sphere, influencing the development of Catalan nationalism. A fellow Catholic, whose wife was a member of the Italian House of Bourbon-Parmathe two had a lot in common. However, relations between the two degenerated when Ferdinand expressed his intention to allow his eldest son Crown Prince Boris later Tsar Boris III to convert to Orthodoxy, the majority religion of Bulgaria.

Leo strongly condemned the action, and when Ferdinand went through with the conversion anyway, Leo excommunicated him. The United States frequently attracted his attention and admiration. He confirmed the decrees of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore and raised James Gibbonsthe archbishop of that city, to the cardinalate in American newspapers criticized Pope Leo because they claimed that he was attempting to gain control of American public schools.

In he published the Apostolic Letter Trans Oceanumwhich dealt with the privileges and ecclesiastical structure of the Catholic Church in Latin America. He bestowed his pontifical benediction over Chilean troops on the eve of the Battle of Chorrillos during the War of the Pacific in January The missionaries were sent to North and South America to do pastoral care for Italian immigrants.

Josephboth inand the Scapular of the Sacred Heart in As pope, he used all his authority for a revival of the theology of Thomas Aquinas. On 4 AugustLeo XIII promulgated the encyclical Aeterni Patris "Eternal Father"which, more than any other single document, provided a charter for the revival of Thomism, the medieval theological system based on the thought of Aquinas — as the official philosophical and theological system of the Catholic Church.

It was to be normative not only in the training of priests but also in the education of the laity at universities. Thomas Aquinas on 15 October and ordered the publication of the critical edition, the so-called Leonine Editionof the complete works of the doctor angelicus. After he had received many letters from Sister Mary of the Divine Heartthe countess of Droste zu Vischering and Mother Superior in the Convent of the Good Shepherd Sisters in PortoPortugal, asking him to consecrate the entire world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, he commissioned a group of theologians to examine the petition on the basis of revelation and sacred tradition.

The outcome of this investigation was positive and so in the encyclical letter Annum sacrum on 25 Mayhe decreed that the consecration of the entire human race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus should take place on 11 June The encyclical letter also encouraged the entire Catholic episcopate to promote the First Friday Devotionsestablished June as the Month of the Sacred Heart, and included the Prayer of Consecration to the Sacred Heart.

Since aboutvarious congregations and countries had consecrated themselves to the Sacred Heart, a practice common at the time throughout the Catholic world. Leo introduced the promotion of monthly prayer intentions inwhich he entrusted to the Apostleship of Prayer now the Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network. In his encyclical Providentissimus Deushe described the importance of scriptures for theological study.

It was an important encyclical for Catholic theology and its relation to the Bible, as Pope Pius XII pointed out 50 years later in his encyclical Divino afflante Spiritu. He devoted his encyclical " Orientalium dignitas " of to preserving Eastern Rite liturgies. Leo XIII is credited with great efforts in the areas of scientific and historical analysis.

He opened the Vatican Archives and personally fostered a volume comprehensive scientific study of the Papacy by Ludwig von Pastoran Austrian historian. Leo XIII, in light of his unprecedented promulgation of the rosary in 11 encyclicals, was called the Rosary Pope because he promulgated Marian devotion. In his encyclical on the 50th anniversary of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception, he stresses Mary's role in the redemption of humanity and calls her Mediatrix and Co-Redemptrix.

While allowing the pope leo xiii biography summary examples "Mediatrix", recent popes, following on the Second Vatican Council, have warned away from the term "co-redemptrix" as derogating from the one mediator, Jesus Christ. His encyclicals changed the church's relations with temporal authorities; the encyclical Rerum novarumfor the first time, addressed social inequality and social justice issues with papal authority by focusing on the rights and duties of capital and labour.

He was greatly influenced by Wilhelm Emmanuel von Kettelera German bishop who propagated siding with the suffering working classes in his book Die Arbeiterfrage und das Christentum. Leo argued that both capitalism and communism are flawed. Rerum novarum introduced the idea of subsidiaritythe principle that political and social decisions should be taken at a local level, if possible, rather than by a central authority, into Catholic social thought.

Inhe elevated Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto to the cardinalate, who would go on to be his immediate successor, Pope Pius X in Of the cardinals he elevated, 85 were Italian since Leo XIII nominated cardinals from beyond Europe, including the first cardinals from Australia, [ 67 ] Canada, [ 68 ] Slovenia, [ 69 ] and Armenia, [ 70 ] the latter of which would be the first Oriental selection since Inthe pope named three cardinals " in pectore ", announcing them in and Inhe named another cardinal in pectoreannouncing the name later that same year.

On 30 DecemberLeo XIII named only one cardinal whom he reserved in pectoreonly announcing the name roughly six months later. In earlyhe named another two cardinals in pectoreannouncing their names in andwhile in April announcing the names of another two cardinals whom he had reserved in pectore in June In JuneLeo XIII named two other cardinals in pectore, announcing in March that both had died, hence, vacating the red hats he would have bestowed upon them.

With the elevation of Newman init was widely praised throughout the English-speaking world, not simply on the account of Newman's virtues and reputation, but on the basis that Leo XIII had a broader episcopal vision in mind than Pius IX ever did. Leo XIII later intended to name the Archbishop of Santiago Mariano Santiago Casanova Casanova as a cardinal in ; however, the pope abandoned the idea after the Peruvian Church objected that the Archbishop of Lima was the Primate of South America and hence the one that needed to be made a cardinal.

In order to avoid a conflict between Chile and Peru, the pope abandoned the idea reluctantly. Inthe pope intended to name the Archbishop of Turin Davide Riccardi as a cardinal but the cardinal died before the promotion could take place. In and again inthe pope offered the cardinalate to Johannes Montel Edler von Treuenfelsthe dean of the Sacred Rota, though he refused the honor he refused again in when invited by Pope Pius X.

InLeo XIII hoped to nominate the Dominican procurator general Hyacinthe-Marie Cormier later beatified to the cardinalate; however, he was unable to do so because the French government did not favor a cardinal from a religious order to seek its best interests as a Curial member. Allegedly, before deciding to name him, Leo XIII asked his brother Diomede to renounce his claim to the red hat, but when Agapito died inthe pope informed Diomede that he would ignore his previous missive asking him to renounce his claim to the red hat, a position that Diomede was never then given.

According to witnesses, Leo XIII failed three times to invite Vincenzo Tarozzi whose cause for beatification has since been launched to receive the red hat. According to a conversation in between Pope Pius X and Antonio Mele-Virdisthe former is alleged to have said, "he should have been in my place". Leo XIII canonized the following saints during his pontificate:.

He approved the cult of Cosmas of Aphrodisia. He beatified several of the English martyrs in One of the first audiences that Leo XIII granted was to the professors and students of the Collegio Capranicawhere in the first row knelt in front of him the young seminarian Giacomo Della Chiesa, the future Pope Benedict XVwho would be pope from to Even though she was strictly forbidden to speak to him because she was told that it would prolong the audience too much, she addressed him and obtained his permission to enter the noviciate early.

There are several versions of a story of how Leo came to compose the Prayer to Saint Michael. Various dates are given. A common account says that on the morning of 13 OctoberLeo XIII celebrated Mass but as he finished, he turned to step down the stairs and allegedly collapsed, falling into what was originally thought to be a coma, but was rather a mystical ecstasy.

Pope leo xiii biography summary examples: He was elected pope in ,

As the priests and cardinals rushed to his side, Leo XIII rose and visibly shaken, brushed off his aides and rushed back towards his apartment where he immediately wrote the Prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel. Leo XIII reportedly saw a vision of demons being released from Hell, and as the vision ended, he saw Saint Michael charge in and drive them all back into Hell.

Ina German writer, Fr. Bers, tried to trace the origin of the story and declared that, though the story was widespread, nowhere could he find a trace of proof. Sources close to the institution of the prayer inincluding an account of a conversation with Leo XIII about his decision, say nothing of the alleged vision. Bers concluded that the story was a later invention that spread like a virus.

At the time of his election inthe pope had started to experience a slight tremor in his hand due to a poorly undertaken bloodletting procedure for a previous malady. In Marchit had been believed that the pope was gravely ill and that he was nearing death. Originally, it was presumed that the pope was suffering from a violent case of pneumonia and that the alarm was raised regarding his health.

However, it was soon discovered that the pope leo xiii biography summary examples for the pope's illness was the sudden inflammation of a cyst which had been troubling him for almost thirty years and which had never been previously removed. The only reason it had never been of any particular concern was due to incisions designed for pain relief. While Leo XIII strongly rejected the notion of surgery at first, he was persuaded by Cardinal Mariano Rampolla del Tindaro that it was necessary to ensure his good health.

Before the pope was taken for surgery, he asked that his chaplain celebrate Mass in his private chapel while the operation was taking place. Reportedly, the cyst removed "was the size of an ordinary-sized orange. Towards the end of his life, Leo XIII resorted to using a gold-headed cane when going on walks, as he often found it difficult to do so.

While Leo XIII was certainly able to walk without it, he only did so if he felt truly comfortable in doing so. When there were ever rumors about his health, Leo XIII was known to mischievously walk about briskly to dispel the rumors. On 30 JuneLeo XIII reported slight feelings of dyspepsia and said that he would take a dose of castor oil to help himself recuperate, shrugging off concerns about his health.

While it seemed to work, and the pope resumed his duties with a renewed vigor, it was not to last. Leo XIII originally contracted a cold while taking an outing in the Vatican Gardens on 3 July ; however, his condition rapidly deteriorated to the point that he had contracted pneumonia. That night, he immediately went to bed and lost consciousness.

On 4 July, the pope made his last confession to Cardinal Serafino Vannutelli and later was barely able to recite the profession of faith. I do not know if all I have done has been good, but I certainly obeyed my conscience and our faith". On 6 Julyhe was administered an injection to ease the pain that he was experiencing, while it was reported that the pneumonia he had contracted was starting to spread to the left lung.

The pope, who had an imperceptible pulse, had a restless night and was given oxygen by his doctors. Before I felt as though I had lost my liberty". The brief remainder of my life must be given to God's Church, not to my own poor comfort". The pope lost consciousness but was awake to receive the sacraments at pm before experiencing yet another restless night, marveling, "God's will be done.

Who would have believed it when only ten days ago I was presiding over a public consistory? His situation had previously been critical that afternoon when he was given the Last Rites, while his doctors apprised him of his sudden deterioration. On 7 July, the feeble pope asked that the shutters of his window be opened, saying "I wish to see once more, perhaps for the last time, the rays of the sun".

The pope felt slightly better enough on 10 July to receive a group of Hungarian pilgrims; however, the pope was exhausted and collapsed after the meeting. Leo XIII deteriorated further until he died at pm on 20 Julywhispering a final blessing before he died. However, Vatican officials gave the time of his death as pm when officials officially confirmed that the pope had died.

Pope leo xiii biography summary examples: Leo XIII was the head of

Leo XIII was the first pope to be born in the 19th century and was also the first to die in the 20th century, living to the age of He was entombed in Saint Peter's Basilica only briefly after his funeral; he was later moved to the Basilica of Saint John Lateranhis cathedral church as the Bishop of Rome, and a church in which he took a particular interest.

He was moved there in late He first achieved note as the popular and successful Archbishop of Perugia from tillduring which period he had to cope, among others, with the earthquake and subsequent famine that hit Umbria in In addition to his post in Perugia, he was appointed Cardinal-Priest of S. Crisogono in Pope Pius died February 7,and during his closing years the Liberal press had often insinuated that the Italian Government should take a hand in the conclave and occupy the Vatican.

However, the Russo-Turkish War and the sudden death of Victor Emmanuel II January 9, distracted the attention of the government, the conclave proceeded as usual, and after the three scrutinies Cardinal Pecci was elected by forty-four votes out of sixty-one. He firmly re-asserted the scholastic doctrine that science and religion co-exist, and required the study of Thomas Aquinas.

Leo XIII was also the first Pope to come out strongly in favor of the French Republicupsetting many French monarchists, but his support for democracy did not necessarily imply his acceptance of egalitarianism: "People differ in capacity, skill, health, strength; and unequal fortune is a necessary result of unequal condition. Such inequality is far from being disadvantageous either to individuals or to the community.

In his first consistory, inhe elevated his older brother, Giuseppe, to a cardinal. The recording can be found on a compact disc of Alessandro Moreschi's singing; a recording of his performance of the Ave Maria. He was filmed by its inventor, W. Dickson, and he blessed the camera afterward. In addition, he canonized the following saints:.

Leo XIII is most famous for his social teaching, in which he argued that both capitalism and communism are flawed. The former is flawed unless safeguards to uphold social justice are in place. The latter is godless. His encyclical Rerum Novarum focused on the rights and duties of capital and labor, and introduced the idea of subsidiarity into Catholic social thought.